This is the Modem World: Nerds in rabbit holes

Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology.

DNP This is the Modem World Nerds in Rabbit Holes

I have many interests: mountain biking, martial arts, video games, running, reading, cooking and horror movies. For each one of these, there is an internet rabbit hole so deep, so full of information and compatriots that it’s a miracle I ever actually follow through on them. Ask yourself this: Do you do what you say you do online?

The internet is great at allowing people to nerd out on their particular interests. While it serves up news and media like a champ, many of us spend our time deep-diving into whatever rabbit hole interests us. When we nerd out about technology here at Engadget, for instance, we’re getting a double dose: reading about technology in a tech environment. It’s a beautiful thing; it’s addictive and we lose sight of reality while we’re going deep. We could be in a bar, at home, at the office — wherever it is, we lose sense of our environment.

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The Weekly Roundup for 03.18.2013

The Weekly Roundup for 12032012

You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

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Ask Engadget: best Bluetooth headphones for audiophiles?

Ask Engadget best Bluetooth headphones for audiophiles

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Christopher, who wants to brave the world of Bluetooth cans for his daily rounds. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“Yeah, okay. ‘Audiophile’ and ‘Bluetooth’ don’t go together, but I’d really like a good pair of Bluetooth cans to use with my iPhone. Naturally, we’re talking about headphones / cans rather than earbuds, ideally with track control buttons, a microphone and noise canceling — but what I’m after is clean, beautifully reproduced audio above anything else. What can you suggest for less than £300 ($455)?”

Engadget’s resident audiophile is a Klipsch evangelist, so it’s probably best to start by talking about its Image One Bluetooth headset. It’s £199 / $249 and comes with A2DP and aptX for high-quality audio, and we’re fairly sure the company wouldn’t put its name to a headset unless it was sure it was half-decent. Still, if you’re sure you want to max out that headphone budget, then for £259 / $399, you can get Parrot’s Phillippe Stark-designed Zik cans, which come with noise cancellation, jawbone microphone and touch-sensitive controls. Then again, we can only offer you so many suggestions before we open this question up to the folks in the peanut gallery — so what do you peeps down there think?

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Engadget Expand wrap-up: Google, Kinect, electric cars, robots, makers and more!

Engadget Expand wrapup Google, Kinect, electric cars, robots, makers and more!

Not all that long ago, we were staring at spreadsheets, table layouts and sketch-ups, squinting our eyes and attempting to wrap our brains around all of it. On Friday, we popped by Fort Mason in San Francisco, to test drive ZBoard’s latest and greatest electric skateboard, and things were already underway, the stage was being erected and banners with our familiar logo were draped everywhere. That moment, however, had nothing on the surreality of the following morning, when, bright and early, the companies began setting up tables.

Outside, a Tesla Model S was parked for test drives, and inside were a pair of electric Toyotas, one sporting a giant, decorative plug on its roof. There were big booths from Lenovo and Nokia, an Indie Corner jam-packed with and impressive displays like the the Ekso Bionics robot exoskeleton and Da Vinci’s truly awe-inspiring surgical robot. Next to that, was Insert Coin, a gathering of all the semi-finalists for our first-ever startup competition, who had flown from all over to show off a truly diverse and impressive selection of innovation.

On stage, an equally diverse array of panelists joined us, from reps for companies like Google, Microsoft, Toyota, and OUYA, to 3D printing companies, roboticists, futurists, sci-fi writers, space explorers, indie gamers and a multimedia DJ / philosopher. Frankly, we’re exhausted. And we can’t wait to do it again. See you in New York.

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Live from Expand: Ask The Editors (video)

Live from Expand Ask The Editors

You’ve already had the chance to hear from our parade of speakers, but now’s the time to ask us some questions! So, what do you want to know?

March 17, 2013 8:00 PM EDT

For a full list of Expand sessions, be sure to check out our event hub.

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Live from Expand: Toyota’s Sheldon Brown (video)

Live from Expand Toyota's Sheldon Brown

We’ll be joined on stage by Toyota’s executive program manager, product development Sheldon Brown to discuss the car’s company’s presence in the hybrid market, and the RAV4 EV, which furthers its focus on electric vehicles.

March 17, 2013 12:00 PM EST

For a full list of Expand sessions, be sure to check out our event hub.

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Live from Expand: Robots, Lasers and Replicators: Making Science Fiction a Reality (video)

Live from Expand Robots, Lasers and Replicators Making Science Fiction a Reality video

Science fiction? Or science fact? We explore the connection between fantastical technologies of the past and their real world analogs, along with Tekzilla’s Veronica Belmont, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s John Scalzi and Robopocalypse author Daniel H. Wilson.

March 16, 2013 7:30 PM EDT

For a full list of Expand sessions, be sure to check out our event hub.

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Live from Expand: Insert Coin New Challengers Demos (video)

You’ve seen plenty about our Insert Coin competitors on this very site — and now it’s time to see them in action. We’ve got some stage time with the finalists, who will be arguing for why they think they deserve that $20,000 grand prize.

March 16, 2013 6:00 PM EDT

For a full list of Expand sessions, be sure to check out our event hub.

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Live from Expand: Reprogramming: How Technology is Changing the Way We Watch TV (video)

Live from Expand Reprogramming How Technology is Changing the Way We Watch TV video

March 16, 2013 5:15 PM EDT

What’s next for television? We’ve got reps from Boxee, TiVo and Sling on hand to discuss the ways in which technology is evolving in the early 21st century.

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Live from Expand: Redesigning Mobile (video)

Live from Expand Redesigning Mobile video

March 16, 2013 2:30 PM EDT

Yes, ladies and gents, it’s time to talk mobile. We’ll be sitting down with big wigs from some of the top companies in the space, including HTC’s VP design Scott Croyle, Samsung’s Design America’s head of design studio Miloseski and Sprint’s director of product development Ryan Sullivan.

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